The Dark Pictures Anthology Has Never Been More Adrift | Directive 8020 Review

In the underappreciated 2008 comedy Role Models, Christopher Mintz-Plasse's character, the exceedingly nerdy Augie, is asked if he likes Coca-Cola. "I like the idea of it more than I actually like it," he answers.

I always found it a funny, confusing answer, but this fifth entry in The Dark Pictures horror anthology, with its grating performances, rote stealth sequences, and signs of an aging formula, makes me realize I can relate; I like the idea of this anthology more than I actually like playing its games.

In Directive 8020, developer Supermassive Games takes us to outer space for the first time in the series. Following stories focused on a cursed shipwreck, New England witchcraft, monster-infested caves, and a modern slasher inspired by H.H. Holmes, the latest one-off title is heavily inspired by two giants of its genre: Alien and John Carpenter's The Thing. A crew of heroes-to-be surveys a potential new home planet for humanity, Tau Ceti f, before a disaster leaves them stranded on it with an alien organism that can steal organic likenesses, such as human faces and bodies.